Information storage medium having storage layer with optical power control area, and recording apparatus to record data with respect to information storage medium

ABSTRACT

An information storage medium having a plurality of information storage layers, each of which includes an optimal power control (OPC) area for obtaining an optimal recording condition. Optimal power control areas in odd-numbered and even-numbered information storage layers viewed from a direction in which light is incident upon the information storage medium are disposed one on another to not directly face each other. An actually usable area of an optimal power control area in each of the information storage layers varies depending on use circumstances of each of the information storage layers. Therefore, when an OPC area of one information storage layer performs OPC, this OPC does not affect another information storage layer. Also, an area of each of the information storage layers can be efficiently used.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/432,412, filed on May 12, 2006, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,327,753, which is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/875,794, filed on Jun. 25, 2004, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,286,454, the disclosures of which are incorporated by referenceherein. This application also claims the benefit of Korean PatentApplication No. 2003-43573, filed on Jun. 30, 2003 in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein in its entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to recordable information storage media,and more particularly, to an information storage medium having aplurality of information storage layers, by which an area of theinformation storage layers can be efficiently used while minimizing aninfluence of an optimal power control (OPC) process executed in an OPCarea, included in each of information storage layers, upon otherinformation storage layers.

2. Description of the Related Art

General information storage media are widely used as informationrecording media of optical pickup apparatuses for recording/reproducingdata in a non-contact way. Optical disks are used as the informationstorage medium and classified as compact disks (CDs) or digitalversatile disks (DVDs) according to their information storage capacity.Examples of recordable, erasable, and reproducible optical disks are 650MB CD-R, CD-RW, 4.7 GB DVD+RW, and the like. Furthermore, highdefinition-DVD (HD-DVD) having a recording capacity of 25 GB or greaterare under development.

As described above, information storage media have been developed tohave a greater recording capacity. The recording capacity of aninformation storage medium can be increased in two representative waysof: 1) reducing the wavelength of a recording beam emitted from a lightsource; and 2) increasing the numerical aperture of an objective lens.In addition, there is a way of forming a plurality of informationstorage layers.

FIGS. 1A and 1B schematically illustrate a dual-layered informationstorage medium having first and second information storage layers L0 andL1. The first and second information storage layers L0 and L1 includefirst and second optimal power control (OPC) areas 111 and 121,respectively, for obtaining optimal writing power and first and seconddefect management area (DMAs) 115 and 125, respectively. The first andsecond OPC areas 111 and 121 face each other (i.e., the OPC areas are ata common radius relative to an inner or outer boundary of theinformation storage medium).

Data is recorded in the first and second OPC areas 111 and 121 usingvarious levels of writing power to find the optimum writing power.Hence, data may be recorded with a higher level of power than theoptimum writing power. Table 1 shows variations in the jittercharacteristics of each of the first and second information storagelayers L0 and L1 when data is recorded in the OPC areas 111 and 121 withdifferent levels of writing power.

TABLE 1 Writing power about 20% higher than normal writing Normalwriting power power L0 Writing Unwritten Writing Written Writing WrittenL1 Unwritten Writing Written Writing Written Writing Jitter L0 5.9% 6.0%5.8% 5.9%->6.4% L1 6.3% 6.2% 6.3% 6.2%->6.3% Writing L0 6.4 6.3 6.3 7.56.4 Power L1 6.0 6.0 6.2 6.0 7.2

According to Table 1, if data is recorded with normal writing power, thejitter characteristics of the first or second information storage layerL0 or L1 keep constant. On the other hand, if data is recorded withwriting power about 20% higher than the normal writing power, the jittercharacteristics of the OPC area of the first or second informationstorage layer L0 or L1 in which data has already been recorded aredegraded. If data is recorded on one of the first and second informationstorage layers L0 and L1 with writing power more than 20% higher thanthe normal writing power, it can be expected that the jittercharacteristics of the other information storage layer may be furtherdegraded.

Hence, if the first and second OPC areas 111 and 121 of the first andsecond information storage layers L0 and L1 exist within an equal radiusas shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, one of them may not be usable.

The recording status of one of the first and second OPC areas 111 and121 may affect the recording characteristics of the other OPC area. Forexample, as shown in FIG. 1B, if data has been recorded on a part 111 aof the first OPC area 111 and no data has been recorded on the residualarea 111 b thereof, the recording property of a part of the second OPCarea 121 which corresponds to the occupied part 111 a of the first OPCarea 111 is different from that of a part of the second OPC area 121which corresponds to the unoccupied part 111 b of the first OPC area111. In other words, since the transmittance of a laser with respect tothe occupied part 111 a of the first OPC area 111 is different from thetransmittance of a laser with respect to the unoccupied part 111 bthereof, the recording property of the second OPC area 121 may beirregular over the area.

As described above, if the first and second OPC areas are disposedwithin an equal radius, they may not properly function.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided aninformation storage medium having a plurality of information storagelayers, by which an area of the information storage layers can beefficiently used while minimizing an influence of optimal power control(OPC) executed in an OPC area included in each of information storagelayers upon other information storage layers.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided aninformation storage medium having a plurality of information storagelayers, each of which includes an optimal power control area forobtaining an optimal recording condition, wherein the optimal powercontrol areas in odd-numbered and even-numbered information storagelayers are disposed within different radiuses of the information storagemedium and the size of an actually usable area of an optimal powercontrol area in each of the information storage layers varies dependingon use circumstances of each of the information storage layers.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is providedan information storage medium having a plurality of information storagelayers, each of which includes an optimal power control area forobtaining an optimal recording condition, wherein the optimal powercontrol areas in odd-numbered and even-numbered information storagelayers are disposed within different radiuses of the information storagemedium and one of the odd-numbered and even-numbered information storagelayers includes a usable area for a predetermined purpose that faces theoptimal power control area of the other information storage layer.

Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forthin part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obviousfrom the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects and advantages of the present inventionwill become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodimentsthereof with reference to the attached drawings of which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views illustrating an influence of an optimal powercontrol (OPC) area upon an area other than the OPC area in aconventional dual-layered information storage medium;

FIG. 2 illustrates a layout of a data area of a dual-layered informationstorage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a layout of a data area of a dual-layeredinformation storage medium according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a layout of a data area of a dual-layeredinformation storage medium according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 5A through 5D illustrate a layout of a data area of a dual-layeredinformation storage medium according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a layout of a data area of a dual-layered informationstorage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a layout of a data area of a dual-layered informationstorage medium according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a recording and/or reproducing apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 is a more detailed block diagram of the optical recording and/orreproducing apparatus of FIG. 8.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the presentinvention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elementsthroughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the presentinvention by referring to the figures.

Referring to FIG. 2, an information storage medium according to anembodiment of the present invention includes at least two informationstorage layers L0 and L1. Each of the information storage layers L0, L1includes an optimal power control (OPC) area 211, 223 for obtainingoptimal power and a reserved area 213, 221. The OPC areas 211, 223 ofthe information storage layers L0, L1 are disposed within differentradii such as not to face each other. Although not shown, each of theinformation storage layers may include a map area adjacent to the OPCarea 211, 223.

The information storage medium shown in FIG. 2 includes first and secondinformation storage layers L0 and L1. The first information storagelayer L0 includes a first OPC area 211, a first reserved area 213, and afirst disk information (DI) area 215. The second information storagelayer L1 includes a second reserved area 221, a second OPC area 223, anda second DI area 225. The first and second DI areas 215 and 225 storedata that is updated upon every data recording, such as, an address of aused part of an OPC area, information about a status of an informationstorage layer, and the like. Examples of the information about a statusof an information storage layer include a recording mode, and an addressrecorded last according to a recording mode.

The first and second OPC areas 211 and 223 in the information storagelayers L0 and L1 are disposed within different radii of the informationstorage medium such that the first and second OPC areas 211 and 223 donot face each other. More specifically, the second reserved area 221 isdisposed in an area of the second information storage layer L1 oppositeto the first OPC area 211 of the first information storage layer L0, andthe first reserved area 213 is disposed in an area of the firstinformation storage layer L0 opposite to the second OPC area 223 of thesecond information storage layer L1.

The first and second DI areas 215 and 225 of the first and secondinformation storage layers L0 and L1, respectively, are disposed withinan identical radius of the information storage medium. Defect managementareas (DMAs) may be used instead of or in addition to the DI areas 215and 225.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate an information storage medium according toanother embodiment of the present invention, in which the firstinformation storage layer L0 includes a first OPC area 311, a firstreserved area 313, and a first disk management area (DMA) 315, and thesecond information storage layer L1 includes a second reserved area 321,a second OPC area 323, and a second DMA 325.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, directions of data recording in each OPCarea 311, 323 and a reserved area 313, 321 of each information storagelayer L0, L1, (i.e., directions of the use of the OPC area 311, 323 andthe reserved area 313, 321) are identical. In other words, while data isrecorded in an OPC area 311, 323 and a reserved area 313, 321 of eachinformation storage layer L0, L1 in an identical direction, data isrecorded in facing areas of different information storage layers L0, L1in opposite directions. That is, the facing areas of differentinformation storage layers L0, L1 are used in opposite directions sothat they are not used together upon data recording.

In FIG. 3A, regardless of a track spiral direction of the informationstorage medium, data is recorded in the first OPC area 311 and the firstreserved area 313 of the first information storage layer L0 in anidentical direction from an inner boundary to an outer boundary of theinformation storage medium. In other words, the first OPC area 311 andthe first reserved area 313 are used in the identical direction from theinner boundary to the outer boundary of the information storage medium.Data is recorded in the second reserved area 321 and the second OPC area323 of the second information storage layer L1 in an identical directionfrom the outer boundary to the inner boundary of the information storagemedium. In other words, the second reserved area 321 and the second OPCarea 323 are used in the identical direction from the outer boundary tothe inner boundary of the information storage medium. Thus, the facingOPC and reserved areas of the first and second storage layers L0 and L1are used in opposite directions.

In FIG. 3B, regardless of the track spiral direction of the informationstorage medium, data is recorded in the first OPC area 311 and the firstreserved area 313 of the first information storage layer L0 in theidentical direction from the outer boundary to the inner boundary of theinformation storage medium. In other words, the first OPC area 311 andthe first reserved area 313 are used in the identical direction from theouter boundary to the inner boundary of the information storage medium.Data is recorded in the second reserved area 321 and the second OPC area323 of the second information storage layer L1 in the identicaldirection from the inner boundary to the outer boundary of theinformation storage medium. In other words, the second reserved area 321and the second OPC area 323 are used in the identical direction from theinner boundary to the outer boundary of the information storage medium,but opposite the direction of use of the first OPC area 311 and thefirst reserved area 313.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate an information storage medium according toanother embodiment of the present invention, in which the firstinformation storage layer L0 includes a first OPC area 411, a firstreserved area 413, and a first DMA 415, and the second informationstorage layer L1 includes a second reserved area 421, a second OPC area423, and a second DMA 425.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, directions of data recording in an OPCarea 411, 423 and a reserved area 413, 421 of each information storagelayerL0, L1 (i.e., directions of the use of the OPC area 411, 423 andthe reserved area 413, 421) are opposite. In other words, while data isrecorded in an OPC area 411, 423 and a reserved area 413, 421 of eachinformation storage layer L0, L1 in opposite directions, data isrecorded in facing areas of different information storage layers inopposite directions. That is, the facing areas of different informationstorage layers are used in opposite directions so that they are not usedtogether upon data recording.

In FIG. 4A, regardless of the track spiral direction of the informationstorage medium of FIG. 2, directions of data recording in a first OPCarea 411 and a first reserved area 413 of a first information storagelayer L0 are opposite. That is, directions of the use of the first OPCarea 411 and the first reserved area 413 are from an inner boundary toan outer boundary of the information storage medium and from the outerboundary to the inner boundary, respectively. Directions of datarecording in a second reserved area 421 and a second OPC area 423 of asecond information storage layer L1, that is, directions of the use ofthe second reserved area 421 and the second OPC area 423, are from theouter boundary to the inner boundary of the information storage mediumand from the inner boundary to the outer boundary, respectively.

In FIG. 4B, regardless of the track spiral direction of the informationstorage medium, directions of data recording in the first OPC area 411and the first reserved area 413 of the first information storage layerL0, (i.e., directions of the use of the first OPC area 411 and the firstreserved area 413) are from the outer boundary to the inner boundary ofthe information storage medium and from the inner boundary to the outerboundary, respectively. Directions of data recording in the secondreserved area 421 and the second OPC area 423 of the second informationstorage layer L1, (i.e., directions of the use of the second reservedarea 421 and the second OPC area 423) are from the inner boundary to theouter boundary of the information storage medium and from the outerboundary to the inner boundary, respectively.

In FIGS. 3A and 3B or FIGS. 4A and 4B, it is understood that the orderof the OPC area and the reserved area arranged in each of the first andsecond information storage layers L0 and L1 may be inverted according todifferent aspects.

In the information storage media of FIGS. 3A and 3B and FIGS. 4A and 4B,addresses of used parts of the first OPC areas 311 and 411 and thesecond OPC areas 323 and 423 are recorded in the first reserved areas313 and 413 and the second reserved areas 321 and 421, respectively.Hence, the size of an actually usable area of an OPC area of aninformation storage layer varies by a used area of a reserved area of anadjacent information storage layer depending on the environments of theuse of each information storage layer, for example, depending on a typeof data recorded in each information storage layer or a frequency of theuse of each information storage layer.

FIGS. 5A through 5D illustrate an information storage medium accordingto another embodiment of the present invention, which includes map areas512, 522 for storing addresses of used parts of the OPC areas 511, 523in information storage layers L0 and L1 are disposed adjacent to the OPCareas 511, 523. In contrast with FIGS. 3A and 3B and FIGS. 4A and 4B, areserved area allocated in each of the information storage layers L0 andL1 is used for a purpose other than the storage of the addresses of usedparts of the OPC areas 511, 523. When such a map area is disposedadjacent to an OPC area 511, 523 in each information storage layer asdescribed above, a usable part of the OPC area 511, 523 can be rapidlyidentified before the OPC is performed in each information storage layerL0, L1. Thus, a time required to perform the OPC can be shortened.

The addresses of the OPC areas 511, 523 may be recorded in the map areain various forms, for example, in the form of a bitmap. The map area512, 522 may be replaced by a disk information (DI) area which can storenot only OPC information but also information updated upon every datarecording, for example, an address finally recorded in a user area orthe like.

In FIGS. 5A through 5D, the first information storage layer L0 includesa first OPC area 511, a first map area 512, a first reserved area 513,and a first DMA 515, and the second information storage layer L1includes a second reserved area 521, a second map area 522, a second OPCarea 523, and a second DMA 525. The first and second map areas 512 and522 are disposed within an identical radius of the information storagemedium, and the first and second DMAs 515 and 525 are similarly situatedon a different radius of the information storage medium.

Generally, the information storage media illustrated in FIGS. 5A and 5Bare formed by further allocating the first and second map areas 512 and522 in the information storage media of FIGS. 3A and 3B. The informationstorage media illustrated in FIGS. 5C and 5D are formed by furtherallocating the first and second map areas 512 and 522 in the informationstorage media of FIGS. 4A and 4B. As described above, the reserved areas513, 521 illustrated in FIGS. 5A through 5D are not used to store dataupdated upon every data recording, such as, the addresses of used partsof the OPC areas 511, 523.

FIG. 6 illustrates an information storage medium according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Considering the fact thatcharacteristics of data recording in inner and outer boundaries of aninformation storage medium may be different, OPC areas 611, 631, 617,637 are disposed in at least one of a lead-in area 610 and a lead-outarea 630 which are disposed on opposite sides of a data area 620,respectively. In the first and second information storage layers L0 andL1, first and second OPC areas 611 and 617 of the lead-in area 610 andfirst and second OPC areas 631 and 637 of the lead-out area 630 may bedisposed on both sides of third and fourth data areas 621 and 623 thedata area 620 using one of the arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 2through 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates an information storage medium according to anotherembodiment of the present invention. Considering the fact that degreesof influence of the OPCs executed in the first and second informationstorage layers L0 and L1 upon jitter characteristics of the first andsecond information storage layers L0 and L1, respectively, aredifferent, a reserved area 713 is allocated in one of the first andsecond information storage layers L0 and L1, and a usable area 721 isallocated in the other information storage layer.

Referring to Table 1, the OPC in the second information storage layer L1affects jitter characteristics more than the OPC in the firstinformation storage layer L0. Of course, if the thickness of a spacelayer interposed between the first and second information storage layersL0 and L1 is changed or a structure of each information storage layer ischanged, a phenomenon opposite to the above influencing phenomenon mayoccur. That is, the OPC in the first information storage layer L0affects jitter characteristics more than the OPC in the secondinformation storage layer L1. In the information storage medium of FIG.7, the OPC in the second information storage layer L1 affects jittercharacteristics more than the OPC in the first information storage layerL0.

In the information storage medium of FIG. 7, the first informationstorage layer L0 includes a first OPC area 711, a first reserved area713, and a first DI area 715, and the second information storage layerL1 includes a usable area 721, a second OPC area 723, and a second DIarea 725. The usable area 721 of the second information storage layer L1faces the first OPC area 711 of the first information storage layer L0,which affects jitter characteristics less than the second OPC area 723of the second information storage layer L1, and can be used to storedata used for a special purpose, such as a purpose set by a user or amanufacturer. The first and second DI areas 715 and 725 are disposedwithin an identical radius of the information storage medium and storeOPC information or information updated upon every data recording, suchas, an address finally recorded in a user area or the like. The DI areas715 and 725 may be replaced by map areas that are disposed within anidentical radius of the information storage medium and that storeinformation about the first and second OPC areas 711 and 723.

Areas arranged as illustrated in FIG. 7 can be disposed in both alead-in area and a lead-out area or in one of a lead-in area and alead-out area.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an optical recording and/or reproducingapparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention in whichthe information storage media of FIGS. 2-7 are implemented. Referring toFIG. 8, the recording and/or reproducing apparatus includes awriting/reading unit 1000 and a control unit 1002. The writing/readingunit 1000 reads from and writes to the information storage medium 130according to commands from the control unit 1002. Here, the informationstorage medium 130 includes several embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 through7 and the control unit 1002 controls data writing/reading operations ofthe writing/reading unit 1000 so as to minimize interference between afirst optimal power control area in a first information storage layerand a second optimal power control area in a second information storagelayer of the information storage medium 130.

Referring to FIG. 8, according to the control of the control unit 1002,the writing/reading unit 1000 records data on a disc 130, which is aninformation storage medium according to embodiments of the presentinvention, and reads out data in order to reproduce recorded data. Thecontrol unit 1002 controls the writing/reading unit 1000 so that thewriting/reading unit 1000 records data in predetermined recording unitblocks, or processes data read by the writing/reading unit 1000 andobtains valid data. Reproducing refers to obtaining valid data byperforming error correction for the read data, and is performed inpredetermined units. The units for performing reproduction are referredto as reproducing unit blocks. A reproducing unit block corresponds toat least one recording unit block.

FIG. 9 is a more detailed block diagram of the optical recording and/orreproducing apparatus of FIG. 8. Referring to FIG. 9, the informationstorage medium 130 is loaded in the writing/reading unit 1000. Therecording and/or reproducing apparatus further includes an opticalpickup 1100 that reads from and writes to the information storage medium130. The control unit 1002 includes a PC I/F 1101, a DSP 1102, an RF AMP1103, a servo 1104, and a system controller 1105, all of whichconstitute the control unit 1002 of FIG. 8.

In the data recording operation, the PC I/F 1101 receives a recordingcommand with data to be recorded from a host. The DSP 1102 addsadditional data such as a parity for error correction of the datareceived from the PC I/F 1101 and performs error correction and checking(ECC) encoding to generate an ECC block, which is an error correctionblock, and modulates the ECC block according to a predetermined method.The RF AMP 1103 converts the data output from the DSP 1102 into an RFsignal. The pickup 1100 records the RF signal output from the RF AMP1103 on the disc 130. The servo 1104 receives a command required forservo control from the system controller 1105 and servo-controls thepickup 1100.

In the data reproducing operation, the PC I/F 1101 receives areproduction command from a host (not shown). The system controller 1105performs the initialization required for reproduction. The pickup 1100emits a laser beam onto the disc 130, obtains an optical signal byreceiving a reflected beam from the disc 130, and outputs the opticalsignal. The RF AMP 1103 converts the optical signal output from thepickup 1100 into an RF signal and provides modulated data obtained fromthe RF signal to the DSP 1102 while providing a servo signal for controlof the pickup 1100 obtained from the RF signal to the servo 1104. TheDSP 1102 demodulates the modulated data, performs error correction andoutputs the resulting data.

Meanwhile, the servo 1104 performs servo control of the pickup 1100, byusing the servo signal received from the RF AMP 1103 and a commandrequired for servo control received from the system controller 1105. ThePC I/F 1101 transfers the data received from the DSP 1102 to the host.

The aforementioned OPC area arrangement embodiments are applicable toall information storage media regardless of whether a track of eachinformation storage layer is spiraled from an inner boundary to an outerboundary or from the outer boundary to the inner boundary. Theaforementioned OPC area arrangements are also applicable to allinformation storage media having a plurality of information storagelayers regardless of whether an information storage layer to bereproduced first is either an information storage layer farthest from orclosest to an optical pickup. For example, the aspects of the presentinvention described above are applicable to CD-R, CD-RW, DVD+RW, HD-DVD,Bluray, and Advanced Optical Disc (AOD) type information storage media.Although the OPC area arrangements have been described with regard to adual-layered information storage medium having two information storagelayers, they may be applied to information storage media having at leastthree information storage layers which are stacked one on another.

As described above, in an aspect of an information storage medium havinga plurality of information storage layers, an OPC area of oneinformation storage layer may be located to not directly face the OPCarea of another information storage layer. Information about an OPC area(that is, OPC information) in one information storage layer is recordedin a reserved area of an adjacent information storage layer that facesthe OPC area, and the directions of data recording in an OPC area of oneinformation storage layer and a reserved area of another informationstorage layer that faces the OPC area are set to be opposite. That is,directions of the use of the OPC area and the reserved area are set tobe opposite. Therefore, an influence of the OPC executed in an OPC areaof one information storage layer upon another information storage layeris minimized, and the size of an actually usable area of the OPC area ofeach information storage layer varies depending on the use circumstancesof the OPC area.

Alternatively, the OPC area of one information storage layer may belocated to not directly face the OPC area of another information storagelayer each other, and a map area for storing OPC information is includedbetween the OPC area and a reserved area of each information storagelayer according to an aspect of the invention. Therefore, when the OPCarea of one information storage layer performs the OPC, this OPC doesnot affect another information storage layer. Also, an area of eachinformation storage layer can be efficiently used, and a time requiredto perform the OPC can be shortened.

Alternatively, the OPC area of one information storage layer may belocated with respect to an OPC area of another information storage layersuch that the OPC areas do not face each other, and, considering thefact that degrees of influence of the OPC areas of two adjacentinformation storage layers upon jitter characteristics are different, areserved area is allocated in only one of the two information storagelayers, and a usable area is allocated in the other information storagelayer according to an aspect of the invention. Therefore, when the OPCarea of one information storage layer performs the OPC, this OPC doesnot affect another information storage layer, and an area of eachinformation storage layer can be efficiently used.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined inthe claims and their equivalents.

1. An information storage medium having a lead-in area, a user data areaand a lead-out area, the information storage medium comprising: aninformation storage layer comprising an optimal power control area forobtaining an optimal recording condition, a predetermined area otherthan the optimal power control area, and an information area havinginformation regarding the optimal power control area, wherein theoptimal power control area and the predetermined area are provided inthe lead-in area of the information storage layer, and a direction ofuse of the optimal power control area is opposite to a direction of useof the predetermined area, and the information regarding the optimalpower control area includes location information of a predetermined areawithin the optimal power control area.
 2. The information storage mediumof claim 1, wherein the predetermined area within the optimal powercontrol area is a used area within the optimal power control area.
 3. Arecording apparatus to record data with respect to an informationstorage medium, wherein the information storage medium comprises aninformation storage layer having an optimal power control area forobtaining an optimal recording condition, a predetermined area otherthan the optimal power control area, and an information area havinginformation regarding the optimal power control area, and the optimalpower control area and the predetermined area are provided in a lead-inarea of the information storage layer, and the information regarding theoptimal power control area includes location information of apredetermined area within the optimal power control area, the recordingapparatus comprising: an optical pickup which records data on theinformation storage medium; and a controller which controls the opticalpickup to use the optimal power control area in the opposite directionof a direction of use of the predetermined area.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3, wherein the predetermined area within the optimal power controlarea is a used area within the optimal power control area.